I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 231 Sweeping Across Haojing, Harvest, Female General
Faced with the attack from Zhou Nanying and others, the Portuguese did not perform any stronger than the others; they collapsed almost immediately and retreated to the church.

"Lord, please protect your believers!"

Richard stood before the statue, praying silently. The holy power within him resonated with the statue, and a milky white light emanated from it, gradually enveloping the church.

The remaining Portuguese survivors, upon witnessing this scene, also began to pray.

A great deal of spiritual power flowed into the statue, making its radiance even more intense and firmly protecting the entire church.

At the same time, Richard's consciousness suddenly rose, gathering the surrounding divine light, and instantly manifested as an angel.

At this moment, Zhou Nanying and the others, who had already arrived outside the church, couldn't help but look at them with slight surprise.

"A humanoid military spirit? How strange."

Moreover, those Portuguese did not seem to form a military formation, so how did they manage to build a strong military spirit?
Zhou Nanying frowned and stared for a moment, then suddenly a thought struck her, and a look of realization appeared on her face.

"Captain? What did you figure out?"

"Heh, that's not some kind of military spirit, but rather something akin to a mountain god or land deity."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the others all changed.

They were confident that no army in the world could rival them.

But when facing the gods, they were not so confident.

"Mountain gods and earth gods? Captain, you mean those are deities?"

"No, no, no, they should be called heavenly soldiers under the command of the gods."

"Hoo~!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, it wasn't a real god.

No, even if they aren't gods, they're still heavenly soldiers. Can they really defeat them?
For a moment, everyone tensed up slightly.

Seeing this, Zhou Nanying couldn't help but laugh and scold.

"What's there to fear about heavenly soldiers? At most, they're only at the level of supernatural powers. The military spirit we form and evolve into is not much inferior."
Moreover, these are not the divine soldiers of the Celestial Empire; their exact strength remains to be seen.

"Indeed, how can these barbarian gods compare to the gods of the Celestial Empire?"

Not to mention, these are just the heavenly soldiers under the command of the gods.”

"Let's go, let's meet this heavenly soldier! Let's form an array!"

Zhou Nanying led her men out in large strides, simultaneously deploying her troops into battle formation.

"Om~!"

In an instant, military spirit surged forth, and a golden-red firebird appeared, with flames swirling around it, scorching the surrounding air until it was slightly distorted.

Meanwhile, Richard, who had also discovered Zhou Nanying and the others' whereabouts, slowly approached the church door, controlling his angelic body.

"The Lord is the only one in the world; all those who do not believe in the Lord are devils."
"All demons will be defeated under the Lord's holy light."

As Richard chanted, a halo of holy light suddenly emanated from his body, instantly enveloping an area of ​​a hundred meters in radius.

Zhou Nanying and the others who came closer were naturally also within the range of the holy light.

In an instant, they felt a faint sense of rejection emanating from the surrounding world, as if it wanted to suppress and annihilate their power.

However, this force was not strong, and everyone felt that they could neutralize it with just a little effort.

However, before anyone could even make a move, the military aura that enveloped them rippled slightly, and in an instant, it dissipated.

Above them, the golden-red firebird flapped its wings slightly and suddenly let out a loud cry.

"Hey~!"

In an instant, a circle of crimson flames suddenly burst forth, and the milky white holy light that enveloped the surrounding area was instantly shattered, turning into specks of white light and dissipating.

Even the angelic body controlled by Richard momentarily slumped, staring at the golden-red firebird with disbelief.

"How is this possible? I possess the power of an angel!"

Compared to Richard's shock, Zhou Nanying was extremely disappointed.

"I never expected that all that grand gesture you made would turn out to be just a show."

"No"

Richard's eyes flickered, and he muttered something in disbelief before suddenly speaking again.

"God said that heretics should be burned at the stake."

The angel flapped its wings, and boundless holy light gathered, instantly transforming into a ball of milky white flame that rushed towards Zhou Nanying.

As the one who controls the body of the angel, he is all too aware of the drawbacks of this method. As long as the mastermind is killed, the angel will naturally collapse.

In his mind, the one who summoned the golden-red firebird must be Zhou Nanying, the leader.

In that case, he only needs to kill Zhou Nanying, and the golden-red firebird will naturally collapse on its own.

After unleashing a devastating attack, the angelic body controlled by Richard dissipated once more, gradually becoming illusory.

However, at this moment, he paid no attention to any of that, only staring intently at Zhou Nanying and the rapidly rushing sacred flame.

"Huh? Fire? What a coincidence!"

Seeing the approaching Olympic flame, Zhou Nanying couldn't help but smile.

"Hey~!"

The golden-red firebird cried out, and mysterious fluctuations suddenly spread, fiercely enveloping the oncoming sacred fire.

"boom!"

"buzzing"

The sacred flame paused slightly at first, then stopped in mid-air, trembling violently, with specks of milky white sparks drifting away, appearing sacred and radiant.

But Richard was in no mood to appreciate it at all.

Feeling his control over the sacred flame being gradually usurped, he nearly suffered a mental breakdown.

"No, how could this be? This is the sacred fire of our Lord to punish sinners, how could it be controlled by sinners?"

A ruthless glint flashed in Richard's eyes, and he muttered something under his breath.

"For the glory of my God!"

In the next instant, the statue in the center of the church suddenly burst forth with brilliant holy light, and the Portuguese people who were enveloped in the holy light all shone with spiritual light and rushed toward the statue at an alarming rate.

This made the power emanating from the statue even more dazzling.

At the same time, everyone's bodies visibly emaciated, eventually turning into desiccated corpses resembling skeletons, and finally collapsing and dissipating into dust.

Throughout this process, they kept their eyes closed in prayer, revealing a look of longing for happiness.

It seemed that they saw heaven, and angels who came to guide them.

Richard, who was controlling all of this, was constantly leaking his energy and spirit, but much more so than others.

Afterwards, the statue, having absorbed everyone's essence and spirit, gained immense power, and endless holy light surged toward the angel at the entrance.

In an instant, the angel's body suddenly burst forth with brilliant holy light, then rapidly contracted, transforming into a fist-sized ball of light, carrying its condensed power, and shot straight toward the holy fire in mid-air.

"Wow!"

A firebird cried out, and a ball of crimson flame suddenly shot out. Although it started later, it arrived before the sacred flame and crashed directly into the ball of light formed by the angel. "Boom!"

In an instant, red and white light illuminated the heavens and the earth, and violent shockwaves spread in all directions.

In the distance, the church doors and windows were blown to pieces and were in a terrible state.

As the shockwave swept over Zhou Nanying and the others, the golden-red firebird flapped its wings, instantly unleashing a golden-red radiance that blocked the violent shockwave.

In the end, it only caused a ripple.

Looking ahead again, the flames emitted by the Military Soul Firebird and the light sphere condensed by Richard's unleashed divine power had all shattered, turning into red and white light spots and dissipating.

The nearby sacred flame, however, was initially violently shaken by the raging shockwave, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

However, in the end, he persevered.

However, in the end, all that remained was a milky white flame the size of a ping-pong ball.

Feeling the joy in her control over the flames, Zhou Nanying immediately summoned the golden-red firebird to her side.

Then, Zhou Nanying took out a crimson jade ball, circulated her true energy on it, and the crimson jade ball instantly burst out with a suction force, drawing the milky white holy fire into it.

Satisfied, Zhou Nanying put the crimson jade ball away and then looked towards the church.

At this point, the church had lost its divine power, and its doors and windows were in a state of disrepair.

After Zhou Nanying sensed through the military spirit that there was no longer any life force inside, she dispelled the military formation and led everyone inside to investigate.

Inside the church, apart from the scattered and disorganized seats caused by the shockwave, only a hunched, emaciated figure lay on the ground beneath the statue at the very front.

"died."

With just one glance, the crowd concluded that the man was dead based on his aura.

"Captain, weren't there many people entering this church before? How come there's only one now?"

"They were probably sacrificed to these so-called gods."

Zhou Nanying looked at the statue of the deity hanging in front of her and said thoughtfully.

"Ah~?"

Everyone was initially taken aback, but then they understood.

"These barbarian minor gods are indeed all evil deities and licentious worshippers, utterly lacking the virtues of the righteous gods of our Celestial Dynasty."

"Heh, that's just how it is!"

Zhou Nanying smiled lightly, revealing a matter-of-fact expression. Then she went to the portrait, examined it carefully, and couldn't help but smile.

The power within the portrait has been completely exhausted.

However, she could faintly sense that there was still a trace of divinity remaining within it.

Perhaps she can glean some profound insights from it; even if she can't, she can still submit it and gain some credit.

This is an item that contains divine power, so it deserves credit, right?

In the Celestial Empire, the policy of confiscating and turning over spoils to the public was naturally also implemented.

However, before this, items that could be perceived or used for knowledge could be perceived in advance, or even copied and reproduced.

For a dynasty, the wider the dissemination of knowledge, the better, so that the people's wisdom can be greatly enhanced, which will be more conducive to their understanding of the rules of heaven and earth and the improvement of their realm.

This, in turn, propelled the dynasty's advancement.

In addition, all the captured items were not handed over to the government without any compensation, but were exchanged for corresponding merit points, which were then distributed according to the size of the contribution.

Although merits cannot be exchanged for money or other valuables.

However, it can be used to promote oneself to a higher position, an honorary title, or even a noble rank.

Even some special resources within the military require sufficient merit, or even corresponding official positions and titles, to redeem.

Under normal circumstances, it is absolutely impossible to exchange money or other valuables for merit points.

The only exception is that captured spoils of war are converted into corresponding merits.

Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, no one would be foolish enough to embezzle the spoils of war.

Upon realizing that the statue contained divinity, Zhou Nanying immediately reached out and took it down, putting it into her backpack.

When I go back, I'll study and reflect on it properly.

Of course, the other members of the team can also try to understand it together.

This was originally a shared spoil of war for the team, so naturally we could all study and understand it together.

After putting away the scroll depicting the deity, Zhou Nanying clapped her hands and smiled at everyone, saying:

"Alright, now that all the Portuguese who were obstructing our takeover of Macau have been executed, our mission is complete."

As for the remaining Portuguese, let the future governor of Haojing handle them.
Let's report this to our superiors first.

After speaking, Zhou Nanying used her captain's position to report the matter in detail.

The group then left the church and began patrolling around the area, confiscating all the Portuguese's belongings.

That same day, Wang Chao received the report, and his face immediately darkened.

It seems these barbarian tribes have lost their sense of who is the king and who is the king.

Not only the Portuguese in Macau, but also the Spanish and Dutch in the East, should be expelled.

If you come to the territory of the Celestial Empire again, you must act in accordance with the rules of the Celestial Empire.

After a moment's hesitation, the dynasty immediately issued the order:

"Guards, issue this decree throughout the land: Zhou Nanying, a woman, has rendered meritorious service in driving out the enemy and recovering territory. She is hereby promoted to the position of Garrison Commander of Haojing, a fifth-rank military general."

We hope he will diligently perform his duties and achieve new successes!

Yes, Zhou Nanying is the daughter of Zhou Wen, the former head of the Military Merit Department of the Ministry of War and now the Minister of War.

However, despite being the daughter of the scholar Zhou Wen, she disliked literary matters and preferred military affairs.

This is probably related to Zhou Wen's background. Although he was originally a scholar, after joining the rescue army, he was always in charge of the military merit department.

So, through constant exposure, Zhou Nanying has always been interested in military affairs.

Later on, she even secretly enlisted in the army without telling her family.

Although Zhou Wen was very angry after hearing about it.

But the matter was already settled, and he could only accept it.

Most importantly, there were indeed female soldiers in the People's Salvation Army.

However, only a very small number of them went to the battlefield; most of them worked in logistics or as military doctors.

Zhou Nanying, on her very first day of enlistment, volunteered to join a combat unit.

Then, because of his hard work in training, he was promoted to squad leader and platoon leader. He also made some contributions in subsequent battles and was appointed as a captain.

This time, however, was the first time she had completed a task independently.

And she made a great contribution on her first mission.

In addition, she was the first female general to be officially appointed by imperial decree in the Celestial Empire. Naturally, the dynasty had to promote this to let the world know that in our Celestial Empire, both men and women can serve as officials and generals.

(End of this chapter)